Wow...woah...what the hell...? "The Brothers Grimm" is yet another long-shelved project at Dimension Pictures that has gotten a less-than-flattering release on all counts. This tale of Will and Jake Grimm (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger), two brothers who go from town to town, staging elaborate supernatural stunts to extort money from hapless citizens has promising talent in front of and behind the camera (Terry Gilliam directs), but is ultimately a film as catastrophic as it is charmless.
The green-screened special effects are very poor in certain scenes (as if background detail wasn't filled in), the plot (what can be deciphered, that is) is schizophrenic and generally disposable, and the dialog (delivered with mediocre-to-poor accents) is largely incomprehensible. And while these are trademarks of any Gilliam film, "The Brothers Grimm" renders such conventions with an indifference that is stultifying; the constant sense of "huh?" I got from the plot kept me from soaking up or appreciating any of the aesthetic qualities contained therein. Which is a shame, since--in a lot of ways--"Brothers Grimm" is as brilliantly eye catching (minus the aforementioned green-screening) as anything Gilliam has done.
But it fails...and fails...and fails some more. And it drags on for nearly two hours. While I appreciate Gilliam's work on a stylistic level, I find him easier to take in smaller doses, if only because of his trademark tendency to clutter the screen with bizarre events, items, and people at all times. "The Brothers Grimm" is too busy, too nonsensical, and too shruggingly presented to elicit a reaction (other than exhaustion and indifference)--an epic of visual brilliance and missed opportunity.
The green-screened special effects are very poor in certain scenes (as if background detail wasn't filled in), the plot (what can be deciphered, that is) is schizophrenic and generally disposable, and the dialog (delivered with mediocre-to-poor accents) is largely incomprehensible. And while these are trademarks of any Gilliam film, "The Brothers Grimm" renders such conventions with an indifference that is stultifying; the constant sense of "huh?" I got from the plot kept me from soaking up or appreciating any of the aesthetic qualities contained therein. Which is a shame, since--in a lot of ways--"Brothers Grimm" is as brilliantly eye catching (minus the aforementioned green-screening) as anything Gilliam has done.
But it fails...and fails...and fails some more. And it drags on for nearly two hours. While I appreciate Gilliam's work on a stylistic level, I find him easier to take in smaller doses, if only because of his trademark tendency to clutter the screen with bizarre events, items, and people at all times. "The Brothers Grimm" is too busy, too nonsensical, and too shruggingly presented to elicit a reaction (other than exhaustion and indifference)--an epic of visual brilliance and missed opportunity.